Stories show up in the strangest of places...

I'm not really a fan of the Christian band 'Skillet', but the other day while my brother Caleb and I were doing dishes, he hooked up his iPod to my brother James' guitar amplifier (who needs surround sound?) and we were listening to Skillet's song 'Looking for Angels'. I don't even remember all of the lyrics, except for the line "Angels show up in the strangest of places."

Now Galadriel's comment on my last post has me thinking about how we writer-folk find stories in the weirdest and 'strangest of places', so I thought we might spend some time discussing the subject.

Music is where I find a lot of my ideas. Sometimes it's when I hear a song for the first time, and sometimes it's a song I've heard dozens of times that just strikes me in a new way all of a sudden.

Sometimes I find ideas in conversation. Sometimes I find them in a painting or photograph. Sometimes I find them in real-life circumstances. Sometimes they show up without prompting from any particular thing at all, as far as I can tell.

What about you? In what strange and unexpected places have you found ideas and inspiration?

A Writing Prompt: The Stray's Story

Probably everyone (and especially those who live in rural areas) has at least some experience with stray (kittens, dogs, parakeets, etc.). My family is no exception. From a pure-bred blue whippet valued at $2000 to a litter of rottweiler puppies and a sampling of everything in between, we thought we'd seen it all.

Until the stray horse showed up last week.

So right there you have a writing prompt. You have a relatively normal occurrence (a stray showing up) with enough twist to make it interesting (strays don't usually come in the form of horses) and an unanswered question (Where did she come from? Why would anyone dump such a sweet little mare?)

Put your imagination to work! Spin the story behind that stray (horse, dog, cat, iguana) that mysteriously showed up at your house. What is the stray's story?

On Writing Prompts

One of the many weird things about being a writer is that periodic tendency to say that we have "nothing to write about". Which is roughly equivalent to a fashion designer saying she has nothing to wear.

I'm not casting judgement, and I'm as guilty as you are, but the fact remains that if you have had contact with some other intelligent life form (actually, intelligence is optional) at some point in your life, you have something to write about. The best place to find that magical inspiration we writers are always talking about is in and among those little dramas of everyday life.

But, since many of us suffer from the "nothing-in-my-life-is-worth-writing-about" syndrome, I've decided to start occasionally posting examples and samples from my own life and the lives of my friends and family - examples of those "little dramas" we all experience that, with a little imagination, can unlock worlds of ideas and "inspiration".

As always, readers, feel free to share your own!